Week 12 - habit keeps you going when motivation is lacking

Amazing!  I've reached week 12 already - and that without dying, but also without undergoing a miraculous transformation either!  When I look at the before and after pictures on the USN website of people taking up the 12-week challenge, then I feel like a wee bit of a failure!!  However, if I look at myself 12 weeks ago and how I felt and look at myself now and the golden oldies I'm digging out of the wardrobe because they actually fit and the fact that I feel fit and energetic (well most of the time anyway!) then I feel rather good.  This is after all a lifestyle change and not something that is destined to last only 12 weeks.  I'm also not consuming vast amounts of chemicals to help me get there.  I read a Tweet today that said when motivation is lacking, it's habit that keeps us going.  I realised that this is probably where I'm at right now.  I think exercise has become a habit.  I sure get grouchy without it!  As brilliant a week I had during the holidays, I had a bit of a flop last week.  This was for various reasons, e.g. my Mom has become extremely frail and unwell, my youngest has a dancing schedule that "skriks for niks" as he is dancing in the SA Nationals this coming weekend, and by Friday evening I realised I hadn't seen the outside let alone the inside of the gym.  I felt tired and miserable when the husband said that I simply have to accompany him as he HAS to go so that he can take the weekend off.  I imagined performing various acts of violence on him with various pieces of gym equipment, but I went along.  After all, when someone is that motivated, you gotta have respect.  


So we arrive at the gym at about 18h30 on a Friday night.  Right.  Grumpy and Mr Motivated are in da house.  Well, it took me one whiff of that gym air - you know what I'm talking about - that combo of chlorine, sweat, a dash of steroids, a little blood and more than a few tears - and I was amped.  I would surely show that treadmill who is the boss.  I pounded away for 20 minutes on the treadmill gaining motivation from a gentleman in the pool who had a stunning style *evil grin*!  I hopped off the treadmill and claimed a bicycle.  I assumed the racing pose and proceeded to better my record of 10km in 20 minutes.  With the sweat pouring off me making a little puddle around the bike, the husband came up to me and mouthed "YOU are SCARY" while Pitbull urged me on ever faster from my MP4 player.  I just smiled!  


After cleaning up the bike and floor with extra heavy duty antibacterial cleaner, I popped over to the other side of the gym and did a fantastic workout on the Powerplate.  The Powerplate has become my abs new best friend!  Use the right technique and those vibrations really wake up the muscles.  No wonder you have to wait 48 hours between sessions!   The few pieces of sushi and the glass of red I had for supper tasted absolutely awesome after that session.


Saturday I took a rest day - if you can call running around wildly trying to complete a long list of errands a rest day!  Sunday afternoon it was back to the gym for a welcome workout.  I find doing some hectic cardio followed by free weights on the Powerplate is my thing at the moment.  We'll see what results it brings. 

Week 11 - 180%

Well, here we are at the start of week 11 and what a week has just gone by!  You know, I use a Polar heart rate monitor which is set up to improve my fitness.  It gives me the amount of calories I need to burn in a week in order to do that and at midnight every Sunday night it leaves a little envelope on the screen of my watch for me to find on Monday morning to tell me how well I've done for the week!  This morning it told me I achieved 180% of my weekly calorie burn!  Awesome!  Now, I managed to do this because it was school holidays so I could hit the gym every morning for a decent workout without the clock chasing me to get home and get the boys up and everything organised and ready for the school run.  It was truly fantastic!  Having a really good gym session in the morning is the most awesome way to start the day.  I know I was not supposed to, but I snuck onto the machine during the week - clearly I've hit another plateau because my weight is the same and the body fat is the same as the previous time.  That's ok - at least it hasn't gone UP and I've figured now that my body does this in some sort of step pattern!  Just when I'm ready to give up and throw in the sweat towel, I suddenly get results!  


I don't actually think I could give this up now!  I have become kinda addicted to exercise now and the great thing is to realise that it's just become part of my lifestyle now.  That's a great feeling.  I was chatting to a friend in the gym on Saturday - this was after I'd just attained my goal of cycling 10km in 20 minutes - and saying that my results are so slow and I seem to be working really hard and being very good about what goes into my mouth.  She suggested I actually add a bit of carbs to my meals before 14h00 - NO carbs after that!  Now if you could see her body, you would listen to everything she has to say!!  May I just mention here that she is a granny and she looks better than most of the young bokkies at the gym!  


Oh ouch!  Talking of bokkies.... ai shame, our fantastic Bokke were knocked out of the world cup on Sunday morning in the quarter finals.  There seemed to be a cloud of depression and frustration hanging over SA all of yesterday!  Look I don't know enough about rugby to criticize... but the REF!!!!  I don't know!  


Ok people, it looks like Summer is making a great attempt at arriving and actually staying for a while!  Let's rock this week's socks off, ok?!

Week 10 - probably the toughest yet

I have just had to check the calendar and make absolutely sure that I really have been doing this thing for 10 weeks already!!  It doesn't seem possible!  On various fronts...


Ok, so today is the start of week 10.  Still, I expected to be 10kg down by now and looking a whole lot different to when I started.  I really haven't had a good week, so this blog entry may have a bit of a negative feel to it.  I may even become whiny at some point, but I did promise in the beginning to be honest!  And right now, I feel a bit like a whiny child who cannot get their way!  


After being well and truly "donnered" by the yoga class, my entire body hurt for days afterwards.  I did a power walk on the Monday after work, but on Tuesday morning when my alarm woke me at 04h40 for my early morning gym session, my body just said "forgeddaboudit, capiche".  I had also not slept well for two nights in a row. I reset the alarm and went straight back to sleep!  I spent the day on Wednesday at Tygerberg Hospital and when I went to drop my son at the dance studio for his hip hop class (and of course my power walk), we found the studio closed and so we assumed that class was finished for the term.  I drove home - no power walk.  On Thursday I had to catch up on Wednesday's work that I'd missed and so ended up working late - and missing my beloved 17h30 zumba class.  My colleague is on leave, so I worked all day on Friday and therefore missed out on my usual hectic Friday afternoon workout too.  Aaarrrrgghhh!!!  Just like that and a whole week has slipped by and the exercise sessions are sorely lacking.  


We were child-free on Friday evening and went to a movie - Friends with Benefits.  Very sweet movie by the way - a fairly predictable romcom, but you know for me, I go to movies to escape reality, so I like the nice ending type movie, or the real skop, skiet and donder also does it for me, although I get a little amped and should preferably see a movie like that first thing in the morning, followed by a gym session!  I digress.... Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis are the two main characters in the movie - plenty eye candy for both the guys and the girls.  However, it got me thinking and feeling like a fat, middle-aged, washed up disaster zone!  Believe me, when I hit the gym on Saturday morning, I was DRIVEN!  Between yesterday and today I managed to catch up on my calorie burn for the week.  I am really looking forward to this coming week as I'll be able to hit the gym every morning as the kids have school holidays now and so my time is a little less hectic in the mornings!  Maybe I can double my calorie burn this week and make some head way!  


Again I say consistency is key as is continually checking in with yourself and finding out why you have these goals and keeping yourself motivated even when it seems that results are a far off dream.  


I have only 6 weeks left to my first goal post and then 10 weeks to the next.  Time to drop a gear or two and open up the throttle!!

Week 9 - and it's National Braai Day!

Riiiiggghhht, I'm setting here - a perfect day, the first summer's day we've had I think, and the braai fire is going outside, the sliding door is open, the radio's on playing the top 40 hits of the week and life is good.  Ok, admittedly, my mind is all zenned from the yoga class I did earlier... my body, well that's another story.  I feel like I've dislocated both hips, ripped my shoulders out of their sockets, my spine is still in shock at all the work IT had to do and I have persistent muscular aches in places I didn't know I had muscles!  At the end of the class when the boneless rubber lady instructor was leaving with her yoga mat rolled up under her skinny, rubber arm, she asked me if I'm new in her class.  I told her that I was in fact new to yoga and that this was a first for me in my 43 years.  Her eyes proceeded to enlarge quite frightenly and she exclaimed "OOOoooohhhh, well you did rather well with some of those poses".  Well lady I can tell you it will be a number of years before I can perform some of those contortionistic asanas.  Eish man!  


My son apologised profusely too!  He's been nagging me to try yoga, but he's been to a different teacher and a more beginnerish class!  No worries, hopefully I'll be able to remove myself from my bed tomorrow morning without any fatal injuries!  


This was not my only first for this week... when I went to my zumba class on Thursday after work, the instructor didn't pitch up, but the pilates teacher did.  She offered to give us zumbaholics a bit of a workout.  Well, I've always wanted to try pilates. I was quite mesmerized by the way the sweat droplets were flying off me as I jumped up on the step, lifted the dumb bells, and jumped down again.  An hour later, I felt like I'd done a round or two with Mike Tyson!  I went to her after the class and thanked her for giving us a workout and told her I'd always wanted to try pilates.  She was quick to tell me that that was no pilates but more like "pilates on steroids"!!  


On Friday I went for a "fitness test" - you know the one - you do a step test, then you do a flexibility test, push ups and sit ups and of course they measure your body fat with those caliper thingies, take your blood pressure and measure your waist.  I'm quite keen to get the results.  I do however need to redo the step test as the aunty that did the test clicked on the wrong button on the PC and lost it!  So I have to go next week. 


Well, I've read on numerous occasions that when one does exercise, it's better not to do the same thing over and over and over, but to mix it up a bit and keep the muscles guessing.  Well, I can tell you after these 9 weeks, my muscles are just staring blankly with their mouths hanging open as they sure as nuts don't know what's going to hit them next!! 


To end off, let's look at the stats:  after 9 weeks, 3kgs down and 4.6% body fat, many centimeters and one dress size down. Results don't come easy!!!  Happy braaiing everyone!

Week 8 - halfway to week 9 and Braai Day!

I really had to do a quick post this morning.  See I have a confession to make.  I know I was only supposed to get on that machine in a couple of weeks, but yesterday morning, at 05h00 when I walked past it at the gym, it just called my name and it looked so lonely.  Ok, ok, I'll stop talking nonsense!  I just couldn't resist anymore ok!  


So, I hop on the blasted thing without great expectations (although I do feel a little thinner)  and it tells me the following - since I last weighed, I've gained, yes, gained just over a kilogram, but get this... my body fat, over the last 8 weeks, has dropped by 4.6%.  I start smiling and I can't seem to stop!  I mean this is what it's all about - I'm not too phased by the weight measurement and I just know that that kilo I've gained is pure muscle, so I am now even more motivated to keep on doing what I'm doing!


I went on to have a fabulous workout with loads of other nutters who frequent the gym in the middle of the night as my husband puts it!  And believe me, it's really really difficult for me to get out of bed at 04h30 - especially when it's cold, windy and rainy - brush my teeth, tie the hair up, get dressed and get out of the door.  There is an evil voice in my head that runs this non-stop commentary of every excuse why I really don't have to go and that there is a lovely warm bed waiting... but once you've done it, your day is made.  You really can handle anything that comes your way. Wish I'd discovered this 20 years ago, although the young body is so forgiving, I don't suppose I would've been as motivated!


It may not be true for everyone, but for me, I have learned that protein is essential and also my mid morning and mid afternoon snacks.  I've not been too organised on the food front at work this week, and yesterday I did not have anything for an afternoon snack.  As I've been working out quite hard, I get hungry and it's essential to have the healthy stuff at hand.  What happened by the time I got home at six.... I promptly ate two pieces of toast and Marmite!  I don't even eat bread anymore!!!!  Anyway, I just had to remind myself of the 85/15 or the 80/20 rule or whichever one you follow - as long as I eat correctly 85% of the time - my body is not going to freak out and nor will anyone else!!  


On Friday afternoon I'm doing a "fitness test" where they assess your strength, flexibility and cardiovascular ability.  I'm quite excited to see where I fit in on the fitness front!


Get moving today people.... we're down to less than 100 days until the silly season with all its parties and beach time and all the skin exposure!!

Week Seven ... and I should be halfway to my goal... but....

Hullo and goodbye week seven and what a week it's been.  It's been bad on several fronts.  On Monday after work, I missed my power walk - for a very good reason though - I went to visit my Mom!  Nevertheless, I missed my exercise session.  After getting home, we realised our dogs were missing.  We went into panic mode and immediately started a search party.  We drove all over the place and whistled and called and whistled and called some more - but nothing.  I think if I had 2 hours sleep on Monday night it was a lot.  I kept thinking the dogs were come back home during the middle of the night.  I was really afraid that they had been stolen as the one is a pitbull and she is everybody's friend!  She will literally make friends with anyone and go with them.  I had terrible visions of dog fights, etc.  Tuesday mornings I'm usually in the gym at 05h00, but at that time I was far too much in panic mode to go gym.  It probably would've been the best thing to do, but I was in zombie mode.  I called the animal welfare as soon as they opened and lo and behold, some wonderful woman had picked up the dogs at Radloff Park and looked after them overnight! Phew!  WHAT a relief!  


Let's say that on the nutrition front, things went awry as well!!  On Monday we had a birthday at work and I consumed a small piece of cheesecake.  Not too bad.  Then Tuesday arrived and some wonderful person brought another cheesecake as a belated birthday cake for the birthday boy. I yet again consumed  a small piece of cheesecake.  So Wednesday arrived and, yip, you guessed it, a rep brought another cheesecake!! Oh my hat, Nando's for lunch and cheesecake for dessert.  Ok, clearly when I'm placed under severe stress and don't get enough sleep, my strength, motivation and total unwavering commitment to my goal goes out the window!!  Yikes! 


I'd had a horrendous muscle spasm in my shoulder over the weekend, with a niggling pain in my calf muscle and a nerve pinching in my lower back on and off.  By Wednesday I was limping and was not a happy chappy.  I did my power walk after work and really limped around the park quite badly.  I realised I probably should have listened to my body and not pushed it, but with the darn cheesecake sitting on my left thigh and right hip, I had to do something!!  I phoned the chiropractor on Thursday morning and fortunately she could see me within two hours!  She gave me a good talking to, told me NO ZUMBA on Thursday night, but that I could go back to gym on Friday afternoon if I promised to take it easy.  Of course I would!!!  *evil grin*... 


Well, as it turns out I HAD to take it easy on Friday afternoon because my husband decided he wanted to come and check out the facilities at Somerset West VA.  So most of the time was spent walking around talking about the various bits of equipment and not doing much working out!  Maybe a good thing.  


Saturday was of course a big rugby game, so my planned first yoga class just didn't happen as the game was still on!  I did a lot of washing, a lot of cleaning, and then slept.  Yip!  I lay down and slept!  Bliss!  I was woken by my son who had found a young beagle running around the streets in front of cars, looking very confused.  He had taken her to a vet to check if she had a chip - she didn't.  So he brought her home.  It really surprised me, but this little doggie got on with my two like a house on fire.  They played up a storm!  


Sunday morning was spent putting up "found" posters and shopping.  Then it was time to hit the gym!  Oh, how awesome it is to do over an hour of hard cardio.  It kinda shakes off a lot of stress and strain.  I have remained true to my word and stayed away from the machine that weighs, checks body fat and blood pressure.  I think I have another two or three weeks to go before I'm allowed on there again.  Hope I can hold out that long hey!!  


So, although I cannot give you any numbers as far as progress goes, I can report back that I am  still attending gym regularly, I'm being good most of the time on the nutrition front, and I am still loving this fitness lifestyle!  It's a little scary that I should be halfway to my goal and I don't feel that I'm even close, but I'll continue plodding along closer to my goal one step at a time.  


Wellness wishes to you all!  

Hullo? What happened at the end of Week 6?

As far as reporting my results go, I have nothing to report.  Why? Well, the good lady at Virgin Active just about made me sign a sworn affidavit that I would not get on the scale machine thingy every week.  She said it's going to kill me because we have fluctuations in our weight all the time and one must weigh and measure and check once every five weeks. FIVE WEEKS!!!  I really don't know if I can last that long!  I might make it every four weeks - you know to fit in with various cycles and hormonal fluctuations.  


What I can tell you is that the more Zumba I do, the more I love it.  I mean what can be better than laughing and dancing your way through an hour spent at 90% of maximum heart rate?  I'm still doing my power walking twice a week, although I think I may try running a bit instead.  I missed my early morning gym session this week as my dogs had disappeared off our property the afternoon before and we were all rather hysterical.  They were found and taken in by a very kind lady.  


All things considered it's been a helluva week - what with a shoulder muscle in spasm causing a pinched nerve, the stress of thinking you'll never see your beloved doggies again and a night without sleep, short-staffed at work with phones that don't even allow you to dash down the passage to the cat-box - I think I'm doing ok!  My biggest fear at this point is that the chiropractor will tell me I can't limp through my Zumba class tonight!!